wrongfully accused

wrongfully accused

I,m on section 8 and about 6 months ago I went to rent a new apartment .they did a criminal backgroud check and found criminal activity from 1985 to 2001 on my record. misdimenors and felonies done by my sister ,that I didn`t know about,so they wouldn`t rent to me. and since then I`ve been trying to find out how to clear it up. and no one will help me.I was told to get finger printed so ,I did. but now, I`m at a stand still. nobody wants to rent to me.where I got fingerprinted they told me it was illegal for apartments to do criminal background checks, but ,all of them do.I`ve rented two prior apartments in 2004 and 2001 and it never came up before.I don`t know what to do,I can`t afford alawyer because I,m disabled and on disability and need to move closer to my family because they help me with transportation to doctors appts. ect.

re: wrongfully accused

You may also want to see if you can get a copy of whatever information was found by the company that denied you a rental based upon your record. If the record WAS generated due to the false information provided by someone other than you, you should go to the police and report it.

re: wrongfully accused

In addition to Carl's suggestion, you might also go to the public defender's office in your county. While they are probalby not required to assist you, you might get lucky. Most of the people that work as public defenders do so because they want to make a difference. Because your situation is quasi-criminal in nature, they might help you for free.

re: wrongfully accused

It would be helpful if you composed any future posts using normal capitalization and punctuation.

"I,m on section 8"

Section 8 of what?

"they did a criminal backgroud check and found criminal activity from 1985 to 2001 on my record. misdimenors and felonies done by my sister"

You're going to need to clarify this a little bit. There is no such thing as "my record." Companies who do criminal background checks simply search several public record sources. Presumably, those sources correctly identify your sister and not you, so it's not clear what the nature of the error is here. Does your sister have a similar name or similar initials as you?

"they wouldn`t rent to me."

Are you SURE it's because of the criminal record? What did the landlord say when you explained that the information related to your sister and not you? Did the landlord provide you with a copy of the report? If so, what did the company who prepared the report say when you called to discuss it?

"I`ve been trying to find out how to clear it up. and no one will help me."

You should consult with an attorney. You may find some assistance from the ACLU or some private legal aid service.

"I was told to get finger printed"

Told by whom? And why? I'm at a loss to understand why this would do you any good.

"where I got fingerprinted they told me it was illegal for apartments to do criminal background checks"

I don't know who "they" are, but that's not true. What IS true is that it is illegal for a landlord to refuse to rent to a prospective tenant SOLELY because that person has a criminal record. A criminal record MAY be used to exclude a prospective tenant if the nature of the record reflects on the person's ability to meet tenancy obligations.